From the booklet which came with the C88 box set, released by Cherry Red Records back in 2017.
“This Paisley band took their name from folklore and the spirits said to guard over churches. They were slow starters, forming in 1986 but not making it in to a recording studio proper until spring 1988 when they finally committed their jangly, arched sound to tape. A series of demos then found their way onto various compilation cassettes and a year later, ‘Mr Watt Said’ appeared on Egg’s compilation, ‘A Lighthouse In The Desert’. It wasn’t until 2003 that Egg issues ‘The Church Grims Basement Tapes 1987-88, featuring six tracks and one remix, that the work of Church Grims could be widely heard.”
I know that Brian over in Seattle is a big fan as he wrote about them over at his former blog, Linear Tracking Lives, in June 2017.
“This will be short and sweet because the Church Grims don’t have much history. That’s unfortunate, too, because when they did make it to wax (well, cassette, in most cases), each artifact turned out to be a perfect piece of indie pop. Like Remember Fun, the Paisley band was signed to Egg Records out of Glasgow, along with groups like the Prayers, Even as We Speak, the Hardy Boys, the Bachelor Pad, Baby Lemonade and several others. There was never an album during their five years together. In fact, the Church Grims’ officially released discography was only four songs, all on compilations. As you’ll hear in a moment, that’s a travesty.
The Church Grims may have been forgotten all together, but a resurgent interest in bands influenced by the ‘C86’ sound that began at the turn of the century prompted Egg founder Jim Kavanagh to dig up the long out of print music from his roster with the goal of getting it out there. In 2003, many years after the band called it a day, the Church Grims finally had a somewhat proper release with ‘Plaster Saints: The Church Grims Basement Tapes 1987-1988.’
“Mr. Watt Said” was the only song from the Church Grims that ever made it to vinyl. It appeared on the four-song Egg sampler “A Lighthouse in the Desert” in 1989. If you only hear one song by them, this should be the one. You know I’m a sucker for trumpet with my pop, and there is plenty of that here. Within seconds, you will think of the June Brides. I can’t give a better compliment.”
mp3: The Church Grims – Mr Watt Said
Things moved on in 2020, thanks to the German-based label, Firestation Records which released Yankee Mags on vinyl and CD, offering up everything that the Church Grims had recorded, including two later songs from 1991 that had been issued as a CD single but not included on the previous compilation, along with a series of demos from 1988 that had previously been unavailable.
Discogs reveals that the members of the band were Mick Smith (vocals/guitar), Tony Boyle (lead guitar/backing vocals), Bob Gregor (bass from 1986-89), Mick McKay (bass, 1991), McNabb (drums) and Greg Bolland (trumpet/backing vocals). Here’s the song that was included in the C88 box set:-
mp3: The Church Grims – Plaster Saint
They were also featured in the comprehensive Big Gold Dreams box set that I’ve referred to a few times during the course of this very long-running series. I also know that Greg Bolland is a member of The Muldoons, whose debut album Made For Each Other was released by Last Night From Glasgow and given a glowing mention on this very blog back in March 2021.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 